The History Of Witchcraft

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“If anyone, deceived by the Devil, shall believe, as is customary among pagans, that any man or woman is a night-witch, and eats men, and on that account burn that person to death... he shall be executed” (Charlemagne) When the words witchcraft or magic are spoken, most people think of the Salem Witch trials or the popular television characters that we have today. But do we really know what happened centuries ago that caused the creation of these ideals and these characters we have grown to adore? Witchcraft still has a tight hold on the mind of many and continues to influence the gap between the popular and elite cultures of today.

The constant struggle to explain the unexplainable is not a new concept. The world’s first civilizations including those of ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians practiced polytheism for this very reason. Gods and goddesses were created to honor all things that could not be explained logically. Everything from weather to illness was thought to be controlled by these deities. As civilizations shifted from practicing polytheism to monotheism, the belief in these good (God) versus evil (the devil) supernatural beings did not completely end. Anyone believed to be able to channel these beings was accused of witchcraft. Throughout the age of witchcraft and magic, people accepted the reality of only two kinds of magic: natural magic and demonic magic. “Natural magic was the manipulation of occult forces believed to exist in nature.” (Levack, 2013) Natural magic was thought to never have any contact with the devil. Demonic magic, however, was thought to be the calling of evil spirits to do harm onto others. (The West, 2014) People who practiced demonic magic usually were thought to be women. Even...

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...o be directly linked to him. Of course to Christianity this was a huge slap in the face. In no way did they condone this. Within the two hundred years that these witch trials took place, thousands of people were tried and killed due to their “involvement” in witchcraft. Today, a person’s religious beliefs are protected by the Constitution of the United States. No longer can people be tried and punished simply for having views that oppose those of the elite group. This does not mean to suggest that witchcraft and other extreme ideas don’t exist. Media is bombarded with ideas of Scientology and Atheism. Exorcisms are still performed today by members of the clergy. Crimes are still committed most frequently by members of the popular group. So, while the way these matters are publically dealt with are different today, the gap caused by these matters still exist.

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